What we have seen in Event Tech Live

By Alex Barbero, technology evangelist eventoplus GroupOne more year (the third time already!), I went to the unmissable gathering of #eventtech professionals in Europe, Tech Live Event, the trade show of new technologies for events that took place on 9th November at the Old Truman Brewery in London. Without surprise, one year more London received me with rain, but one never loses hope (just as one never loses hope of finding a good coffee there).

In this edition, we have become Media Partners for the event, thus group eventoplus had a presence with magazines and logos.

If last year I talked about consolidation of this event, this year confirmed my prediction: the show is in rapid growth just like the underlying sector. This time it expanded, with an attached room featuring an area for startups and a stage for their specific performances.

A total of 80 exhibitors, 22 of whom were startups, in two spaces, 1.262 attendees from 47 countries (I venture to say that I was the only Spanish representative who flew for the occasion), five training tracks including a competition of "Elevator pitches" for startups, two rest areas and a charging area for smartphones, are numbers that casts the event.

A remarkable fact of this edition was the integration of several partners and their solutions in the 'visitor journey'. First, registration was made through the website of the event, developed by Expoplatform where we could prepare the agenda adding to our schedule the meetings we wanted, all linked to the event App developed by Goomeo. In the event, the N200 hardware made easier the access, printing badges if you have not done your homework and take it printed, or even registration on-site. The plastic badges featured a small NFC chip, thanks to Konduko, that would give us the key for the interaction with the event.

The first part of the morning was dedicated to the formations, starting with the "Main Stage", Big Data, Engagement and new technologies were the main lines. Perhaps something trite, but soon I saw that those three themes would rotate throughout the day: lectures, round tables, exhibitors, all perfectly orchestrated to delve into these three areas.

From my point of view, it is impossible to find year after year a trend that is going to revolutionize the industry, so after the revolution we have experienced in the last few years with regard to the big data, engagement, multiple realities, touches reflect on how make them useful and applicable. We let ourselves be surprised by something new, but an excellent choice is to stop to think about how to get them to every day and how to make it really useful.

As detail: since in the previous editions the noise of the show made it complicated to concentrate on training, the event opted for headphones from Silent Noize Event, allowing you to listen to the session on headphones, even with the option to change the frequency if the subject becomes boring and listen to a bit of rock ' n roll, all suitably indicated with a led that changes color on the device and warns the speaker that he/she is losing you.

Obviously the training sessions and round tables were the entrees, but as we all know, staying only with that makes that we miss other sessions or interesting interactions, and there comes into play the NFC provided by Konduko. This technology gave me the possibility approach the corresponding receiver my badge (there was one for each session in a panel next to the entrance of the "Main Stage") and subscribe to receive in my email a summary of my interactions with links to sessions that have interested me and videos to view them again.

Thus, I decided to walk around and interact with what called my attention. I went to see the 80 exhibitors. I see as a trend this yeat thar management tools have become more specific: the Management Software focuses on support in specific sectors, as for example EventHalo which allows you to manage events in the air free, concerts and festivals.

Also Apps become more complete. In all, there is an extension of characteristics, and many apps can now facilitate the creation of websites for the event, or the creation of a community of attendees that can follow live post-event. An example might be EventsCase, the evolution of Pickevent, a tool to manage attendees at all levels as well as its first task, to facilitate networking, or Zerista, an app focused on matchmaking using algorithms to maximize the match.

We are also beginning to see an interesting competition in the field of interaction with content and leads capture. As we said before, Konduko proposes to relive the content in a personalized way; Poken gives digital solution for the exchange of contacts and Akkroo enables the efficient management of a stand by scanning business cards and the automation of the first contact post-event.

I also attended the Campfires, presenting a nice solution for small, specialized discussions on topics such as the intelligent use of technology. I must make special mention to the decoration of the campfires, inviting experimentation and practice. See in the picture a campfire theme 'back to school' with our desks.

Event Tech Awards

After an intense day, clad in Tuxedos, we headed for Supernova, the temporary venue (only from November to March) of Victoria Embankments which hosts the Gala of the Eventtech awards.

After the welcome drink, Codorniu cava and drinks with a base of cava, we were accommodated in our tables. Before dinner, Adam Parry, founder of the Blog Event Managers and Event Tech Live both the Tech Awards Event welcomed over 400 guests.

The succession of finalists (among them was Yumiwi as the only Spanish finalist) and was enlivened with the humor of the comic master of ceremonies who was short a gala, an achievement given the number of categories. Let us a list of companies to be vigilant over the coming months.

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